Search results for " Structural"
showing 10 items of 1751 documents
Experimental investigation on BFRCM confinement of masonry cylinders and comparison with BFRP system
2021
Abstract Fabric reinforced cementitious mortar (FRCM) materials have started to be employed during the last years with the aim of overcoming the drawbacks related to the use of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, proving to be potentially suitable for strengthening masonry structures. Moreover, the will to develop materials able to guarantee a certain degree of sustainability without renouncing to adequate mechanical properties has drawn the attention to the use of basalt fibres, which appear to be a valid alternative to carbon or glass fibres. This work presents an experimental investigation on a basalt FRCM (BFRCM) system to confine circular masonry columns, aimed at evaluating the…
Molecular mechanisms determining the strength of receptor-mediated intermembrane adhesion
1995
The strength of receptor-mediated cell adhesion is directly controlled by the mechanism of cohesive failure between the cell surface and underlying substrate. Unbinding can occur either at the locus of the specific bond or within the bilayer, which results in tearing the hydrophobic anchors from the membrane interior. In this work, the surface force apparatus has been used to investigate the relationship between the receptor-ligand bond affinities and the dominant mechanism of receptor-coupled membrane detachment. The receptors and ligands used in this study were membrane-bound streptavidin and biotin analogs, respectively, with solution affinities ranging over 10 orders of magnitude. With …
Stress transfer mechanism investigation in hybrid steel trussed-concrete beams by push-out tests
2014
Abstract Results of push-out tests carried out on Hybrid Steel Trussed–Concrete Beams (HSTCBs) before and after the concrete casting are presented and interpreted. Firstly, in order to check the ability of weldings before casting, tensile tests were performed on specimens reproducing different types of welded joints. Simplified design formulae were used to predict their ultimate strength. Secondly, results obtained by push-out tests on specimen representative of the beam before and after the concrete casting are presented and discussed. Finally, simplified analytical models proposed by the current European building code were adapted to the specific typology to roughly predict the ultimate s…
FEM analysis of push-out test response of Hybrid Steel Trussed Concrete Beams (HSTCBs)
2015
Abstract Aiming to investigate the steel truss–concrete stress transfer mechanism in Hybrid Steel Trussed–Concrete Beams (HSTCBs), a three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear Finite Element (FE) model is developed. The constitutive relationship of the steel composing the plates and the rebars is modeled by means of a quadri-linear law, while the concrete behavior is defined by means of a Concrete Damaged Plasticity (CDP) model, suitable for modeling concrete and brittle materials. Two main failure mechanisms are considered, namely the tensile cracking and the compressive crushing. In order to accurately grasp the complicate dowel and bond phenomena arising at the steel–concrete interface, a 3D solid…
Strength and strain enhancements of concrete columns confined with FRP sheets
2004
The compressive behavior up to failure of short concrete members reinforced with fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) is investigated. Rectangular cross-sections are analysed by means of a simplified elastic model, able also to explain stress-concentration. The model allows one to evaluate the equivalent uniform confining pressure in ultimate conditions referred to the effective confined cross-section and to the effective stresses in FRP along the sides of section; consequently, it makes it possible to determine ultimate strain and the related bearing capacity of the confined member corresponding to FRP failure. The effect of local reinforcements constitute by single strips applied at corners bef…
Limited Resistance Rigid Perfectly Plastic Hinges for Steel Frames
2017
The paper concerns the proposal of a new special device for steel frames that can be utilized as external constraint as well as internal one connecting the structure beam elements. The device is designed as a rigid perfectly plastic hinge characterized by suitably chosen stiffness and resistance. Its constituting material is steel. The elastic stiffness and the limit resistance, treated as independent of each other, are fixed with the aim of satisfying special features required to the structure. The proposed device is thought as a sandwich section with wing thickness appropriately variable. Its dimensions are designed so that it can exhibit the fixed independent stiffness and limit resistan…
Validation of a Novel Sensing Approach for Continuous Pavement Monitoring Using Full-Scale APT Testing
2023
The objective of this paper is to present a novel approach for the continuous monitoring of pavement condition through the use of combined piezoelectric sensing and novel condition-based interpretation methods. The performance of the developed approach is validated for the detection of bottom-up fatigue cracking through full-scale accelerated pavement testing (APT). The innovative piezoelectric sensors are installed at the bottom of a thin 102 mm (4 in.) asphalt layer. The structure is then loaded until failure (up to 1 million loading cycles in this study). The condition-based approach, used in this work, does not rely on stain measurements and allows users to bypass the need for any struc…
Numerical assessment of the thermomechanical behaviour of the DEMO Water-Cooled Lithium Lead inboard blanket equatorial module
2018
Abstract Within the framework of EUROfusion R&D activity, a research campaign has been carried out at the University of Palermo, in close cooperation with ENEA labs, in order to assess the thermo-mechanical performances of the DEMO Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) inboard blanket equatorial module, whether properly integrated within its whole inboard segment. In particular, a detailed 3D model of this segment, including all the other modules, the back-supporting structure and the attachment system, has been considered in order to realistically simulate the boundary conditions affecting the equatorial module behaviour. The study has been focused on the investigation of the module thermo-mech…
Neutronic and photonic analysis of the water-cooled Pb17Li test blanket module for ITER-FEAT
2002
Abstract Within the European Fusion Technology Program, the Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) DEMO breeding blanket line was selected in 1995 as one of the two EU lines to be developed in the next decade, in particular with the aim of manufacturing a Test Blanket Module (TBM) to be implemented in ITER. This specific goal has been maintained also in ITER-FEAT program even if the general design parameters of the TBMs have reported some changes. This paper is focused on the investigation of the WCLL-TBM nuclear response in ITER-FEAT through detailed 3D-Monte Carlo neutronic and photonic analyses. A 3D heterogeneous model of the most recent design of the WCLL-TBM has been set-up simulating reali…
On the nuclear response of the water-cooled Pb-17Li test blanket module for ITER-FEAT
2003
Abstract Within the European Fusion Technology Programme, the Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) DEMO breeding blanket line was selected in 1995 as one of the two EU lines to be developed in the next decades, in particular with the aim of manufacturing a Test Blanket Module (TBM) to be tested in ITER-FEAT. The present paper is focused on the study of the WCLL-TBM nuclear response in ITER-FEAT, being specifically oriented to the investigation of the local effects due to the typical C-shaped tubes of the breeder zone, since they could play a pivotal role in the module-relevant thermo–mechanical design. A 3D heterogeneous model of the WCLL-TBM, realistically simulating its new lay out and taking…